Heart of Chaos
by kamaleen
Summary: He should have known since Maul told him his name. But no, he didn't. And he still trust this Sith lord, trust him until it must be completely clear that Maul was using them. Maul was using them. Maul was using him. Maul did not care about him. It's just… a lie. A lie. Maul had never cared about him. Underage Relationship! [Maul/Ezra]
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I know I might be the only one who ship Maul and Ezra together, but I still want to write about them anyway. And! this fan-fiction is not going to be mainly about sexual intercourse or something like that. I want to try the slow-burn kind of fan-fiction. And with the conflicts of Dark-Light and Sith-Jedi, I think it's going to be very interesting and quite challenging.**

 **I might write a fan-fiction that is Maul/Ahsoka too [I slightly ship them after I heard Maul called my favourite Togruta 'Lady Tano', but I don't have a plot for them yet.], I think it's going to be very interesting too.**

 **By the way, this fan-fiction has no beta-reader, all mistakes and blames are on me.**

 **Also, since English is not my first language, anyone who want to beta this fan-fiction is welcomed ^^**

 **5 Apr. 2016 Edit 1st! Cutting some redundant part and fix a few words.**

/

* * *

/

Ezra wasn't sure of how he ended up like this; subdued and seated on a lap of a male Zeltron like a prostitute, or worse, a pleasure slave. With chains linked between his wrists and his ankles, it's hard to move without making a sound – not that he was good at being stealthy anyway. Moreover, there was still a shock collar on his neck. Ezra had experienced it could do in a hard way. Yet being seated on a slaver's laps with only thin white tunic covered his body was definitely not what he preferred.

He tried to move to the left, to see if he could strike back and ran. Unluckily, the Zeltron knew. The humanoid hummed smugly and pulled the chain that connected to the collar, and Ezra was pulled right back against the hard body with something even harder poking at his lower back. The boy gulped, slightly panicked. He wasn't so innocent that he didn't know what this Zeltron was a planning, but he was trying his best not to think - worry - about it. Not now.

A beautiful Twi'lek walked passed them with a seductive smile on her face. There was only a thin fabric covered her chest, with what looked like large ribbons entwined and formed a temporary pants that left nearly nothing for imagination. Of course it was for a job, but Ezra still felt her owner – the Zeltron – getting even harder. In front of them, at the end of the hall, was a stage where dancers were performing a striptease. Ezra knew about this kind of dance, but experience it in person still made him feel awkward.

To cut it short, Ezra was in a large hall of a brothel where it was a restaurant with different kind of seductive and sexually suggestive dance performing every night. He was seated on the lap of its owner who was constantly subduing him with heavy pheromones. Ezra had heard about an ability of a Zeltron to produce many kind of pheromones, but he had never thought it could be this heavy. That's probably one of the reasons he ended up like this.

"Do you enjoy the show?" The Zeltron asked with a velvet voice, a poison coaxed with alluring sweetness. "See? They're well trained." As if to empathize his word, the Zeltron's hand move to squeeze Ezra's thigh in a sexual manner. It took great patience for Ezra not to strike back. He had tried strike back more than once, and the shock collar gave him quite a terrible experience. He wanted nothing but to get out of this situation, but Zeltron probably wasn't going to let him go that easily.

The boy scanned the hall again, hoping to see a chance to escape. Above him was the second floor where those prostitutes and pleasure slaves [he wasn't sure about the different between these two anyway, maybe prostitutes got paid while pleasure slaves did not?] performed their main job. Ezra could sense sexual tension and anything sexual-related emotions/feelings through the Force; it, to be honest, scared him. He might have fought an Inquisitor, but this was entirely new for him and he didn't exactly know what to do. He had heard Kanun and others talked about how some people made wealth from slavery and sexes, yet he didn't pay much attention since he didn't think he would have anything to do with that kind of fields. It seemed to be a working field for trained and highly experienced spies, not a Jedi leaner.

Then, among the sexual tension that was giving him headache, he felt a familiar darkness. Darkness born from a sea of anger covered by an icy surface. Ezra gasped; he knew this person. There was only one person who gave off a wipe like this.

 _Maul._

And just liked how he felt it, the wipe disappeared before Ezra had time to scan the room for that exact person. He was even more panicked now, but also scared and angry.

 _What is he doing here? What does he want? Why did he just disappear? Why can't I sense him? Or…maybe I just imagine that feeling up? No, that cannot be, he was here seconds ago, I'm sure. There is no one like him._

"What is it little one?" The Zeltron noticed the change of emotions in him, and immediately asked with a pretended care. Ezra knew better than that. The Zeltron wanted to know what scared him than shock collar. Ezra mentally smirked as he imaging how wrecked this place and the Zeltron's financial account would be if there was a duel in here. Lightsabers surely could make more damage than ordinary people could expect.

* * *

 **-72 hours ago-**

"It's a trap!"

Sabine shouted as she pulled her blasters out and blasted their former ally right in the face. Ezra immediately pulled his blaster out too, shooting at the Empire agents before both of them made a run for the window. Sabine shot the glass and both of them jumped out to the roof of the nearby building.

There was already Stormtroopers waiting for them on the ground outside the building, so Sabine and Ezra stayed the roof. The Phantom was just outside the city, but they had to make it to the wall without these Stormtroopers following them first.

"Why did she betray us?!" Ezra shouted as they raced toward their ship. He was disappointed with another friend turning foe.

"Credits! I shoud have known better. That bitch cares about nothing but credits!" Sabine shouted back as she leaded Ezra toward where the Phantom was. Her voice told Ezra that she was absolutely pissed. Sabine had a trust issue because she was once betrayed, and being betrayed again only angered her. "Chopper! Get the phantom ready, we're leving!"

It was a simple mission so Hera sent just him and her. Their Twi'lek leader and Zeb was on a mission of leading a group of Lasats they rescued to Lirasan. And Kanan was still recovering. At first Kanun wanted to come, but Hera told him to get some rest. They would be back in no time.

So, Ezra and Sabine went to Azu, a planet located in the Outer Rim. Their mission was to pick up a spy and get her back to the Rebel's base. Yet when they met said spy, who had contacted them before they reached the planet that she would have some friends accompany her, Sabine recognized her _friends_. They were the Empire's agents, so now Ezra and Sabine were running for their life.

"Almost there!"

Sabine grunted as they jumped to the last building. Chopper was already waiting for them with the Phantom and its door opened. Unfortunately, the Stormtroopers decided to use Rocket launchers. Guess what? They made the whole building, which actually was a warehouse was storing explosives, explored. Just Great.

"Sabine!"

Ezra shouted. He could sense what's going to happen. Sabine was ahead of him, and if he did nothing she was going to die in that explosive.

So he Force-pushed her, sending her toward the Phantom. And the last thing he saw was she entering the Phantom and himself falling down to the ground below. Besides him was an explosive.

Then his world turned black.

* * *

" _I know where you are." Came an old shaky voice. "You're with me, hm..."_

 _Ezra immediately pointed his lighsaber at the source of the voice. A hooded figure covered in shadow._

" _Please put your weapon away. I…I mean you no harm." The hooded figure spoke, sounded like an old tired man who had been alone for so long. But that's not what going to make Ezra believed his word._

" _Stay back." Ezra said with his hardest voice, still not putting his lightsaber down. "Yeah, I'm warning you old man." He added as the stranger seemed to ignore his firs warning._

" _Forgive me, it's just… I've been alone, so long, it's been years since I've spoken to anyone." The old man seemed to be trying his best to make Ezra believed he was truly harmless._

" _You live here alone? You're in the dark."_

" _Not by choice," The hooded old man replied. "My… ship crashed. I'm trapped, marooned, I've to scrounge and scrape to survive."_

 _Now Ezra felt a bit sorry for the man before him. But that's not what's going to make him let his guard down._

" _Look. I'm sorry. Okay. I wish I could help you, but I have to get back to my friends." Ezra said, decided that he would ignore this man for now. He had to get back to Kanan and Ahsoka. Yet the stranger still tried to talk to him._

" _Perhaps I could help you."_

" _I doubt that." Ezra replied, hoping that the other would get the massage and leave him alone. Well, he wasn't entirely disappointed to hear the stranger still trying to make a conversation with him._

" _Why are you here?"_

" _I'm not gonna tell you that." Ezra rolled his eyes as he spoke. Yet what the old man said next surprised him, and also captured his interest._

" _You came for the same reason I did, years ago. You seek knowledge."_

" _It's in the temple, isn't it?" Ezra said, more interested but also more careful._

" _And I know the secret way to get inside, but, but I'm too old…I…I..I need help to…open the door."_

" _What's inside?" Ezra asked as he slid down the rock to get the closer look of the old man. He could make out a pattern of dark tattoo, or was it his skin pattern? Just like the white pattern on Ahsoka's face? Ngh, he would think about that later._

" _Help me and find out." The stranger purposed, and Ezra knew he had to be careful. This could be a trap._

 _He got closer to the old man, and still had his lightsaber activated. "Show me this doorway." He said, looking at the stranger in the eyes._

" _Please, this way." The stranger gestured with his hand, but Ezra wasn't going to have his back vulnerable for any possible threat from someone whom he had just met._

" _You first." He said, frowning._

" _You don't trust me?" The old man said, sounding as if he was hurt._

" _I don't know you." Ezra replied, still keeping his guard up._

" _Uh…well…then let's change that. Call me, old master. And you?"_

 _It felt as if the old man's voice change when he said the word 'master', but Ezra let it slid because he needed to come up with a fake name._

" _Call me Jabba." He said, knowing that the old man knew that it was not his real name._

" _Hm, come then. Jabba."_

 _Ezra thought that he saw something close to recognization in that yellow eyes of the stranger. But then he was leading the way, so Ezra followed and ignored his curiosity for now._

 _They proceeded through the dark, and Ezra could not help but ask after a while._

" _How much further?" He asked, looking around and slightly shivered. This place was creepy, and a bit scary._

" _You worry about your friends."_

 _A statement, which Ezra wasn't sure why the old being in front of him said it._

" _They need my help." He said back, waiting for a response to give him a clue of what this man really capable of. And said clue surprised him, as the stranger mentioned about the inquisitor._

" _Yes, and with good reason. The inquisitor is powerful."_

" _Wait. You know about the inquisitor?" Ezra asked, truly surprised._

" _He is my enemy. All inquisitors and their master are my enemies." An old voice replied, and it made Ezra even more curious about the origin of this man._

" _You're a Jedi?" He asked, and he could see the awkward expression on the other's face. As if the old man was debating with himself of what to reply._

" _Er…no, no, no. But I was once a Force wielder, long ago. Long, long ago."_

 _The old man replied, seeming to be uncomfortable to answer this question._

' _Once a Force wielder, but not a Jedi?' Ezra frowned, and then realized what the other tried to avoid saying it out loud._

" _Then, you're the Sith." Ezra said, immediately changed his posture. Yet, the old man just looked at him with so much pain in his eyes. A split second later, Ezra sworn he could almost feel darkness and anger rolling from the hooded figure. However, as he was about to get a grip on the emotion of the other male, there were only pain and misery that he could feel._

" _The Sith. The Sith took everything from me. Ripped me from my mother's arms. Murdered my brother. Used me as a weapon, and then casted me aside. Abandoned me." There was a glitch of anger and a dark emotion, which Ezra could not identify, presented. "Once I had power…" Then there was a pause, and the older male now radiated only pain and sorrow. "…no, I had nothing. Nothing."_

 _He seemed to be so sad Ezra felt like comforting him, even that they just met._

" _I know how you feel." He said, looking at the stranger. "The Empire, it took away my home, and my mother, and my father." He could feel his anger rising as he continued. And then there was a strange look in that yellow eyes._

" _And you want revenge." Old master simply said, touching his shoulder gently. And it shook Ezra, not physically but mentally, because he knew that, deep down, he still wanted revenge. Yet he wasn't going to let that show._

" _I want justice!" Ezra said as he shrugged the old man's hand off. Nevertheless, old master didn't seem to mind. He just kept talking._

" _Yes, yes, you shall have it, for I've discovered the 'key'."_

" _The key to what?" Ezra asked, completely puzzled._

" _The key to destroy the Sith." The stranger said, leading the way as he spoke._

" _That is the knowledge inside the temple?"_

" _Yes, that temple holds secret of the Sith. Secrets that had been buried with the dead for thousands of years."_

" _And you share this knowledge with me?" Ezra asked, half surprised. He didn't expect someone to share something so important with a person they just met._

" _Yes. Yes, of course."_

 _As old master, Maul, said this. His voice was so soft, so trustable. Ezra still remembered it, as if the former Sith had said this to him a moment ago._

Ezra groaned and hid his face in his hands. He had been so stupid. Maul was using him all along, using him since they opened the door of the temple, trying to lure him into the dark. But what made what Ezra most disgusted about himself was that he fell for it, and until now he still had the taste of it. The taste of power, the taste of what he could draw from inside him.

 _Your passion give you strength. And through strength you gain power. You've seen it. You feel it._

 _You must break your chains._

"Ghhh…" Ezra groaned as his brain decided to replay what when Maul taught him way of the Sith; and Ezra was too oblivion to notice.

And there was a memory of what happened after he and Maul was able to reach the chamber where the Sith Holocron was stored.

"… _do what must be done. There would always be limits to your abilities… seize the knowledge, seize the power. Do not become like me, Jabba."_

 _Maul's voice was so sad, as same as his expression. Yet there was a hint that the Zabrak was proud of him, and if melt Ezra's heart. And then Maul was helping him to up. He should have known better that they all were just tricks to gain his trust._

" _My name is Ezra, my real name."_

" _Real name? Yes. I… once had a real name. So long ago, I…don't remember." There was a pause as Maul lifted his hood up. Ezra should have known the hint of darkness since he saw that look in Maul's eyes. The look of wrath mixed with darkness and anger._

" _Now, now I am called, Maul."_

 _He should have known since Maul told him his name. But no, he didn't. And he still trust this Sith lord, trust him until it must be completely clear that Maul was using them._

 _Maul was using them. Maul was using him. Maul did not care about him. It's just… a lie. A LIE._

 _Maul had never cared about him._

Ezra shot up from where he was laying on, panting as he looked around. His side was throbbing badly, still hurt from the explosive. It took him several seconds to realize that it was just a dream. Yeah, he just dreamed about Maul and their encounter on Malachor again.

"Damnit." Ezra groaned, massaging his forehead. Then he realized that there was a chain around his wrist.

"What?" The boy gasped, looking around. He was somewhere which definitely not a Rebel's base. There were chains around his wrists and his ankles, and a collar around his neck. Well, at least his captive was kind enough to put a bacta-patch on him. It might not be the best solution to take care of someone who just encountered an explosive, but at least he would heal quicker.

"Where am I?" Ezra sighed, looking around. It was obvious that his captive wanted him alive, probably for an interrogation. He tried to reach out with the Force, only to feel a terrible pain flooded his system.

Ezra screamed. He had never experienced something like this before. It's like he was pinned and stabbed with multiple knives at the same time. He had no idea how long it was, that he was in pain, it could be seconds but felt like hours in his thought.

And just like how it happened, the pain suddenly disappeared. Ezra panted, looking around, trying to recover from it in the same time as trying to find the source of it.

"Young Jedi, I recommend you act wisely. I mean, I know when you try to use the Force."

Someone was speaking. Ezra looked around but saw no one, until he saw a speaker at the end of the room, across from the mattress he was on.

"Show yourself, who are you?" Ezra said, trying to figure out what trick the other used to injure him. Then he realized that the collar on his neck was actually a shock collar.

The voice that answer him was both cunning and cruel.

"My name is Darious, young Jedi. But who I really am? You're about to find out."

It turned out that Darious was a Zeltron, who was once a Jedi. However, now he owned a brothel and used the Force to the benefit of his own. He also participated him slavery, clearly abandoned whatever 'good' ways of the Jedi he once learnt. And it's Darious who persuade their former spy to change side, offering her money and wealth.

Moreover, he wanted Ezra as his 'lap dog'. Of course Ezra definitely not agree. When the Zeltron asked Ezra to join him, Ezra replied with the best snark he could create, which resulted in him being electrocute. Darious asked him again, sometimes later with a shock collar off, and Ezra still confirmed his former reply.

They fought, but in the end Ezra was beaten up and chained with the shock collar on his neck again. Darious wasn't hesitated to use the shock collar and Force-choke to make his point clear, yet he said Ezra should be grateful that he had mercy to buy the boy from the Empire with more information about the Rebels. Ezra was both angry and disappointed in himself to be beaten up so easily, yet there was nothing he could do to the former Jedi. Darious was strong, even stronger than Kanan. And he was definitely more cruel and heartless.

The Zeltron had sometimes talked about putting him on a show while he shocked Ezra. And Ezra? He tried not to think about the future as he tried to escape to his good memories to forget the pain. It was hard to say, but Ezra know he could not beat this Zeltron in both strength and Force. Darious kept covering himself with pheromones that made Ezra felt light headed and dizzy, trying to make him become docile; which he tried his best to fig

After many hours of torturing, without food or water, Darious had finally decided to bring Ezra out from the underground prison. This was the first time Ezra was allowed to see anything except darkness, but he wasn't sure if he was grateful or disgusted to be seated on Darious' laps in the end of the hall.

* * *

"What is it little one?" The Zeltron noticed the change of emotions in him, and immediately asked with a pretended care. Ezra knew better than that. The Zeltron wanted to know what scared him than shock collar. Ezra mentally smirked as he imaging how wrecked this place and the Zeltron's financial account would be if there was a duel in here. Lightsabers surely could make more damage than ordinary people could expect.

"Nothing." He replied with hoarse voice. He was body was so tired, but right now his mind was sharp abd clear. Despite the pain he still felt from the torture and the explosive, Ezra tried to ignore everything around him – to open his sense as wide as possible. He tried to sense for Maul presence again, hoping to be able to locate the Zabrak this time.

"Oh, I know you have sense someone. Who is it?" Darious wasn't easy to fool, or maybe he was bad at lying. Ezra mentally groaned, but refused to answer. That's when Darious pulled him close, letting his barely clothed rear pressed harder against the hardest behind him.

"My sweet little bird," Darious said, one of his hands was now onw Ezra's upper thigh. "I don't prefer children, to be honest, but I can fuck one if that little bitch is misbehaving. Now, tell me who you have sensed?"

"No one." Ezra gritted his teeth, still trying his luck. "Oh, I forgot. You WERE a Jedi, now your sense was damned because you stick your face between someone's legs too much."

"What a dirty mouth you have," Darious chuckled, but Ezra could sense that the Zeltron was not amused. Actually, he had just succeeded in angering Darious. It seemed like after owning a brothel and being a slaver for years, the former Jedi had lost his patience and tolerance when someone decided to talk back. "Maybe I should teach you more about how to behave. Should I?"

"Fuck off." Ezra growled weakly, knowing that he was definitely in trouble. He tried not to think about what the Zeltron was going to do with him, but he could almost sense it. Darious didn't care that he was a child, and he had no regret in raping. If the Zeltron wanted to 'teach him a lesson' in a sexual way, he was going to do it.

"Good idea," Darious chuckled, squeezing his thigh even harder until Ezra almost cried out from the pain.

Then he felt anger, a sea of anger and wrath.

 _Maul._

Ezra thought weakly, before he was Force-pulled from the Zetron's lap, and then thrown toward a table nearby.

The impact shook him out of conscious for seconds, and when he came back the whole place was collapsing down.

 _What just happened?_

Ezra thought weakly, still dizzy from hitting the table. He looked around and gasped. The hall was covered in flame. It looked as if half of the wall had collapsed from explosion, after that the ceiling fell down too. He could saw bodies of the people who were trapped and killed under the wrecks. He must had been out for a while, because now there was no one he could see, except for two blurred moving figures on his left.

The boy tried to focus, and he could make out two people. Darious with a green lightsaber, and someone who was dressed in dark clothes, with red lightsaber. A familiar double bladed lighsaber.

 _Maul._

 _Maul and Darious are fighting._

That was all Ezra could process before his world turned black again.


	2. Chapter 2

_"He's so young."_

 _"…Boss said he is a Jedi."_

 _"Half-Jedi, still in training."_

 _"Will he recover?"_

 _"He will, trust me. This kid is strong."_

"Ugh…" Ezra groaned as he gained his consciousness back. He heard voices, unfamiliar voices. The first voice was deep, while the other was quiet and hoarse.

 _Where am I?_ Ezra wondered. He remembered that the last thing he remembered were the whole building coming down from explosive and two Force wielders fighting; Maul and Darious.

It took Ezra several seconds to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was a grey metal celling. He took a deep breath and turned his head slowly to the side. His body was still hurt, but not as bad as before.

Ezra took in his surroundings slowly. The first thing he noticed was a large table with several artificial lights that looked like those in a hospital. There were another bed next from the table and an automatic door. Two people – _Zabraks_ \- were standing near it, one was dark yellow while the other was light orange. These two Zabraks had light-colour horns on their head and dark tattoos, which reminded Ezra of someone.

Both of them were reading something on their data-pads, clearly didn't notice that Ezra had awaken. The boy considered trying to sneak out or letting those two knew he was up. Yet when he tried to move, his body protested with pain shooting up from his wounds. Ezra mentally sighed; it seemed like he had only one option. Besides, those two Zabraks didn't chain him to the bed; maybe they could be friends.

"Hey." Ezra spoke weakly, surprised by how hoarse he sounded. Both Zabraks immediately turned. The one with dark-yellow skin had a stern look on his face, while the light-orange just smiled.

"I will tell Boss." The yellow-skin Zabrak said before he walked out, leaving the orange-skin Zabrak with Ezra.

"Hello," The orange skin Zabrak moved toward him. Ezra could see a faint scar on his face; it was a small cut from his left cheek down to his jawline. "How are you feeling?" The Zabrak asked. His voice was warm and made Ezra slightly relaxed.

"Better?" Ezra said, looking around and still had no clue of where he was. "Where am I?" He tried to act as casually as he could, as if every day he would wake up to a different place after an explosive.

"Aboard a ship," The Zabrak replied, pulling a chair out from under the bed Ezra was on before sitting down. "My name is Theo. I am a medic. Our boss brought you here. You're lucky to survive with all those wounds, Ezra."

"You know my name?" Ezra frowned, suddenly feeling unsecured to have a stranger knowing his true identity. "And where exactly am I? Which sector? Which system? And why am I here?" If he was on the planet, Ezra was sure he would be able to find his way back to his friend, yet now he was somewhere in space, where he had no clue of how to get back.

"Whoa, easy there." Theo held both his hands up. "Calm down, you're safe here. You're aboard a ship called the 'Shadows', which is travelling in a hyperspace. You're here because our boss brought you in, telling us to take the best care of you. And, on my opinion, you recovered quickly than I thought."

"Who is this 'boss'?" Ezra asked; he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like whom the Zabrak was talking about. "Can I meet him?"

"Yes." Theo nodded. "If boss wants to meet you now, Zek will inform us."

"Zek?"

"My brother, he left the room shortly after you woke up." Theo replied, and Ezra remembered that dark yellow skin Zabrak. Okay, Theo and Zek. He didn't know what the other Zabrak was like, but Theo seemed alright to him. Even that both of them reminded him of Maul.

"Theo." Ezra said, carefully. "Am I a prisoner?"

To Ezra's surprise, Theo seemed to be confused.

"Prisoner?" Theo frowned. "No, no, if you're the prisoner you won't be in here." He said. "And our boss wouldn't have carried you here himself. He cares a lot about you."

"Really…?" Ezra frowned, he still had no idea who the boss was. He tried to reach out with the force, but the injuries kept distracting him. He couldn't focus very well when his sensory still noticed only the pain from all over his body. And speaking of which, Ezra looked down to see how it was doing.

Someone had taken his jacket and shirt off, but Ezra didn't feel like being naked because there were bandages all over his chest, stomach, and upper arms. His forearms seemed fine, but there were bruises around his wrists. They're probably from the chain Darious had kept him in. The memory made Ezra grimaced, which Theo noticed.

"What's wrong?" Theo asked, leaning closer. "Are you in pain?"

"No, just…" Ezra shook his head. The bruises didn't hurt as long as someone didn't touch it. He would be fine. "Um…do you have a mirror? I want to see how my neck and face are doing."

"Yes, I think we have it around here somewhere." Theo nodded and stood up, walking to a box in the corner of the room. It took him several seconds to return with a mirror. And the Zabrak kindly held it up for Ezra to inspect himself.

Ezra looked into the mirror and sighed. There was a large bruise circled his neck, surely from that shock-collar. His face seemed to be fine, except for the bacta-bandage on both his cheeks. There were bruises on his forehead and his jaws, he guessed the causes were the explosions he had survived.

"Thank you." Ezra nodded, settling back to sit against the wall behind him. He pulled the blanket covering his lower half away and sighed. Someone had taken off his boots too, and the bruises around his ankles were revealed, as same as bandages on his feet. The pants he was wearing wasn't his. It was a thin blue pants, long enough to cover just his knees. There were bandages and bruises covering his calves too.

"Wow," Ezra said. "It seemed like I was stomped over by Fyrnocks."

"No, no, it seems like you had survived an explosion." Theo chuckled, and his statement startled Ezra. "I might not be there, but I can see the explosive from where I was."

"Wait, you're in Nacile?" Ezra asked, recalling the event on Nacile, a city he and Sabine were assigned to meet their ally – who had betrayed them.

"Yes, I was shopping for supplies." Theo nodded. "You arrived unconscious after I got back to the ship. We took off and I had been tending to your wounds since then."

 _I have a bad feeling about this._ Ezra thought as he took in what Theo said. Half of him was sure that it was Maul who brought him here. But since Maul had shown his true colour, the Zabrak still wanted to be-friend him? Knowing that Ezra knew his true intention, there was no way Ezra wasn't going to be in the same side with Maul again.

 _If it is truly him, will he try to trick me again?_ Ezra thought, looking away in Theo. The Zabrak looked at him and walked away, knowing that Ezra was silently asking for some times alone. _What does he want? Me as his apprentice? No, I will not follow him. Not again._

 _Yet…I use his advice to open the Sith Holocron…_

One of his inner voices sneered back at him and Ezra gulped. It was true; he was able to open the Sith Holocron after he let the pain, mostly mental pain, of the event flew through and overwhelmed him. Yet it was just briefly. Ezra felt bad with himself from letting his dark emotions took over, so he stopped. Then Kanan walked in, silently holding out his hand and Ezra gave the Holocron to his Master without a question. He was ashamed of himself, and Kanan didn't say anything as the older man left. Ezra knew there was going to be a serious conversation between them after Kanan had fully recovered. However, after that he was on a mission with Sabine – and this was where he ended up.

 _One must be a Sith, or think like one._

Maul's voice was still haunting Ezra, kicking him in the face with the truth that he had used the darkness. That he had darkness in his mind and was _willingly_ to use it.

A soft shuffle sound of door opening nearly startled Ezra. The boy turned toward the source of the sound and saw the dark yellow Zabrak walked in.

"Boss wants to meet you." He simply said with an emotionless voice, Ezra raised his eyebrows and said nothing. He swung his legs out of the bed and followed the other Zabrak out of the room.

As they walked through the passage, Ezra took in his surroundings. This ship looked old, but cleaned and received well maintenance. There were many doors and passages leaded to another section of the ship; Ezra assumed that 'the Shadows' should be very big indeed.

Zek leaded him through several passages before he stopped in front of a simple automatic door you could find in any ship large enough to house at least three people. Ezra stopped too, and looked at the Zabrak.

"Boss is in there." Zek said, making no move to enter the room. So, Ezra walked toward the door. It slid opened softly, with little to no sound. Ezra tried to look, but the room was dark with a hint of dim lights somewhere.

The boy risked a glance back at Zek, who was still watching him with emotionless eyes. Seeing that Zek wasn't going to give him any clues, Ezra sighed. He felt like walking into an execution room. Nevertheless, Ezra entered and the door slid shut softly.

The room was dark, with very dim red lights shining weakly from two corners of the room. Ezra could make out a bed, a desk with something he could not identify because it was too dark, and a small glassed window showing the outside of the ship. True to Theo's words, they're in a hyperspace.

"Okay." Ezra heard himself making a sound, but as far as he could see there was no one in the room. He looked around again, yet still didn't see anyone. And as he reached out with the Force, all he could feel was a present of Zek walking away.

 _Well, no one is here._

Ezra thought, walking back to the door to ask if Zek had leaded him to a wrong room. However, the door didn't open. Ezra frowned, trying to push it but the metal wouldn't bulge.

"Great." Ezra shook his head. "Now I'm actually a prisoner." He could feel his anger rising, but trying his best to subdue it. It wouldn't help him escape.

So, instead of trying the door, Ezra searched for a switch to turn the light on. He scrambled in the dark or a while until he found a tiny switch besides the door. The boy pressed it, and the room was lightened by an artificial light on the ceiling.

Ezra looked around the room again. Now he could see what was on the desk, which seemed to be arrange into a small workshop for tinkering with metals and many small parts of some engines. On his right, in the opposite side from the desk, was a bed. And there were still artificial red lights glowing, but a lot weaker when the light on the ceiling was on. This had Ezra frowning as he took a better look at the lights. They actually looked like tiny pyramids covered with thin white fabric.

 _No, they're tiny pyramid covered in thin white fabric… no, they looked like Sith Holocrons._ Ezra gasped because he knew he was right without taking a closer look. They were Sith Holocrons.

"Shit…" Ezra immediately backed away from the dim red lights. It's not because he was scared of them, no, it's because he felt a _pull_ toward them. Ezra knew he could open them, and even that he knew that everything about the Sith was always dangerous and tempting – Ezra still wanted to know more. He wanted to know about them, wanted to study the forbidden knowledge about the Sith – the kind of knowledge that all Jedis weren't supposed to study.

"… _to defeat your enemy, you have to understand them."_

" _To defeat your enemy, you must know your enemy. Even…practice their beliefs."_

Yet there were two voices, Ahsoka's and Maul's, echoing in his head. Ezra tried to shake them out, try to think of what Kanan would say if he knew. Try to think of what Master Yoda would say if he knew.

 _Well, isn't Master Yoda the one who sent us to Malachor? To retrieve the Holocron?_

One of his inner voices sneered again, and Ezra shook his head. There was no use trying to argue with himself right now. He had to find a way out.

 _Why Zek left me here? With two Sith Holocrons? Why? Is this some kind of tests?_ Ezra thought, looking around the room. He wanted to try using Force-push to open the door, but decided to save it for later. He might not be strong enough yet.

Ezra tried to look around the room again, and this time notice a small panel hidden almost behind the workshop. It had two buttons. He pressed the red one, and the wall next to him just slid up to reveal a hidden entrance.

 _A secret room, great._ Ezra grinned, immediately entered it. Well, it's not actually a room, more of a passage leaded to somewhere else. And since going back meant he would be alone with two Sith Holocrons, Ezra chose to follow the passage down.

At the end of the passage was an automatic door. Ezra entered and found himself in a small hanger full with many types of small Starships and freighters.

"Okay, this ship is a lot bigger than I thought." Ezra said, looking around. He didn't recognize most of the ships here, and most of them seemed to be very old. "Yeah, and I haven't seen any of these ships before." He added, knocking an old dusky yellow freighter with his knuckles.

"That's a G9 Rigger Freighter, manufactured by Corellian Engineering Corporation. Its last owner called it 'the Twilight'."

A familiar voice spoke from behind him, and Ezra turned back to see Maul sitting on an unfamiliar dusky white ship. The Zabrak smiled at him, but Ezra didn't smile back. He felt his anger rising, he wouldn't forgive Maul for what the Zabrak did to Kanan.

"What do you want?" Ezra asked, stepping back and prepared to fight. His torso protest as he changed his posture into a ready to fight or flee, but Maul made no move to advance him.

"To show you my ship collections." Maul simply said, sliding down from the ship he was on and landed gracefully on the metal floor of the chamber. "You know, when you get old you might eventually pick up a habit of collecting stuffs. I mostly collect what reminds me of my past." He said, turning his back to Ezra and pointed at the ship he had sat on before. "This is a Republic's gunship – a LAAT/I Repulsorlift Gunship designed by Rothana Heavy Engineering."

Ezra did not know what to do. He wanted to strike Maul - yet he had a feeling that, even with his back to Ezra, Maul would have easily defeated him in a fight. This Zabrak had tricked him before, and nothing could guarantee that he would not do it again.

"Oh yeah, but I'm not in a mood to listen to you." Ezra said, carefully stepped away as Maul turned to face him. "Why am I here? No, you're the boss, right? Why did you bring me here? I'm not going to be your apprentice. Never." Ezra growled, thinking of what Maul had done to Kanan. It angered him, yet Maul showed no sign that he was affected by Ezra's anger.

"Be careful there young one. Or you might knock your head with that ARC-170 Starfighter." Maul said with a calm voice instead. Ezra looked back on reflex. True to Maul's words, a few more steps and he would have knocked his head with an old rusty gun of a Starfighter. And when Ezra turned back to Maul, the Zabrak was already on another Starfighter with a tool box in his hand.

"What do you want?" Ezra asked again, stepped closer. He absolutely had no idea of what Maul was planning. "I'm sick of your game." He added, walking until he was in front of the old Starfighter.

"That's bad." Maul shrugged, turning to face Ezra. His voice was so soft and warm, just like on Malachor - before he showed his true colour. "Okay, I'm going to tell you then." Maul moved until he was fully faced Ezra, and Ezra moved away. "Just like I've told you, I collect things. You should have seen what's in my quarter."

"The Holocrons?" Ezra frowned. "Yeah, and what do they have anything to do with this?" Ezra asked, before something in his head click. On Malachor, it took them both to retrieve the Holocron.

"You want me to help you collect the Holocron?!" Ezra backed away, looking at Maul with all his hate he got. "I'm not going to help you!"

"Why not?" Maul chuckled and it sent chills down Ezra's spine. "What make you think you're not going to help me?"

"Because I'm not going to be your apprentice." Ezra growled back. His posture told Maul that he was ready to fight whether he would win or lose. "I'm not going to help you with anything."

"Oh, dear child." Maul laughed, and it very unsettled Ezra. "This is too funny to be true. I sense the darkness in you, I know you have opened the Holocron you got from Malachor."

"I didn't!" Now Ezra panicked. _How does he know?_ His mind was screaming in shock. The only ones who knew about the Holocron were he and Kanan, okay, maybe Chopper too. But it's impossible that any of them would sell this out. And Maul probably wasn't aboard the Ghost when Ezra opened the Holocron.

"You shouldn't lie, young Jedi." Maul said, sliding down from the Starfighter. "I sense it in you. I sense your emotions. You Force signature is darker than the first time we met."

"You're lying." Ezra said. He could still feel his anger rising.

"Keep telling yourself that." Maul chuckled, crossing his arms behind his back. "But you should know one thing, unless you have your use here, you're going to be destroyed." The Zabrak spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, and Ezra's eyes widened in confusion mixed with anger.

"Don't you need anyone to help you find your Holocrons?" Ezra retorted, glaring at Maul. The Zabrak was still calm, and even smiling at him.

"I can always find a replacement." Maul replied with his velvet voice and a smile filled with darkness and somethings Ezra truly did not want to explore. "Oh, and since you really want to be perished, it makes me curious of why you have no desire to see Lady Tano's old quarter first. I still keep it just likes before she left to join the Rebels."

"What?" Ezra stuttered. "Ahsoka had lived here? I…I don't believe you." He said, knowing that his voice had betrayed him.

"Oh, but you seem to be half curious already." Maul smirked, and Ezra felt like whipping it off the Zabrak's face with his fist. "Come then, I will take you to her old quarter. Don't be afraid, Lady Tano isn't a type of person who set traps in her bedroom." He immediately turned and walked away. Eventually, still keeping a distance, Ezra followed him.

Ahsoka's quarter was in the corner of the hanger, near an entrance to the rest of the ship. Maul keyed in the password and the door open. Ezra could tell as he stepped in to the smaller space that Maul wasn't lie. This place was once belonged to Ahsoka. He could feel a faint presence of her here.

The quarter had a personal fresher and a small workshop - just like Maul's. There was still tools lying around on the desk full of dust. The bed was still messy, as if Ahsoka had left in a hurry. And there was still clothes in her closet.

"Lady Tano left as soon as she received a Force-message from her _fellow Jedi_ who survive the Clone War." Maul said, sitting down on a chair next to a small window that show what was outside the ship. "Well, she requested that this quarter should be a place for any Jedi to stay, in case I am kind enough to pick up one." Maul added, standing up and walked pass Ezra to the door. Ezra made no move to follow, and Maul made no sign that he wanted Ezra to follow him.

The door slid shut, and Ezra was left alone in a dusty quarter.

* * *

Maul went back to tinkering with the Starship. He decided to leave Ezra alone for a while. He knew the boy needed time to get himself together.

Maul successfully got the hatch to the engine opened, and get down to work. Ezra's reaction was as he had expected. Maul had learnt that the more he concealed his Force signature, the more he could sense others'. It was true that he wanted Ezra to help him find other Sith Holocrons which had been lost since the ancient wars, but that's not his true reason of why he brought Ezra with him after killing that Zeltron Jedi.

To be honest, Maul wasn't sure if he would achieve his now final and only goal. He could only hope that, with Ezra, he would.

* * *

Ezra sat down and whipped the dust away from Ahsoka's old desk. He found many pieces of machine and some rough drafting of engines. Unlike Kanan and him, Ahsoka was talented in engineering – something she took after her former master; Kanan told him. Ezra was more of an 'animal-friendly' type.

Ezra also found many data-pads under the desk and in the dressers under Ahsoka's bed. He laid them on the table and slowly activated them one by one. To his surprise, they all contained data from the Clone Wars. There were militaries information, Jedi information, photos of Ahsoka in her youth, and photos of the place called a Jedi temple on the planet Coruscant.

Then, he found many hologram videos. Most of them contained knowledge of the Jedi, and Ezra watched them briefly to see what all of them were about. Some were about fighting styles – video for lightsaber training. Some were about the Force, which he decided not to watch it now. Some were about planets, and overall knowledge about the galaxy. And the last one, which was not for education, was a video of Ahsoka in her present day – or what she looked like when Ezra met her.

' _Hi'_

Ahsoka in the video smile. She was sitting on a chair, and Ezra had a feeling that she had been filming this video here – in her quarter.

' _I am Ahsoka Tano. If you're seeing this video it means that you're a Jedi, and Maul has picked you up.'_

Ezra saw no grimace on her face. He wondered of what Ahsoka was feeling about living under Maul's care.

' _This video is made to give you advices of how to get on his 'good' side. You might have heard that Maul is evil, that he's a Sith, but not anymore. Do not conclude that he is a Sith, it's going to piss him off.'_

"Yeah, he had told me." Ezra nodded, continued to watch the video.

' _Maul's crews are not evil. They might be rough with you at first, but they're very kind and protective on the inside. It's not hard to get on their good side, but you must be patient. Moreover, the more his brothers like you, the more Maul would be…easier to deal with…too.'_

She seemed to be hesitated of the words to use, and Ezra understand. Maul was a very complex person.

' _Maul can be…generous in some occasions. Be careful about them. Most of the time it's because he wants something from you. Yet there is also times that Maul being generous because he feels like it. Remember, he is not a Sith anymore - but more of a dark grey. He is not completely dark; there is still goodness in him. Water it, do not let it dies.'_

Ahsoka said, and she was very serious as she said this. Ezra grimaced, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Ahsoka might be true about Maul could truly be good because he wanted to be good, but Ezra wasn't sure he could separate the truly good one from the ones and Maul being good because he wanted something in return.

' _Lastly; if you're watching this videos it means I've gone to join the Rebels, or die trying to find a way to stop the Empire. Whether we will meet or not, be brave and do what is right. May the Force be with you.'_

The video ended and Ezra was alone again. He re-watched the video a few more times, before deciding that he had to get out of this quarter at some point. He needed food; his stomach started to growl. Also, his body was protesting him for overworked it. His torso was throbbing and Ezra had a feeling that he must had been given a painkiller before, and now it was wearing off.

As he went out of the quarter, Maul was still tinkering with one of the ships. Ezra slowly walked toward him, carefully not to let it show on his face of how painful he actually felt.

"What is this ship?" Ezra asked when he was close enough, and Maul looked up from where he was tinkering with what seemed to be its laser generator.

"V-19 Torrent Starfighter" Maul said, standing up. His voice was smooth and soft. "Manufactured by Slayn & Korpil. Its purpose was to protect the gunships from enemy Starfighters during planetary assaults." Maul looked toward the quarter, then back to Ezra. "Finish searching through Lady Tano's stuffs?"

"Yes." Ezra shrugged, and found himself ran out of things to say. Maul just kept looking at him, and Ezra felt like he had to come up with something. However, his stomach decided to growl, and Ezra had never felt so relieved to have someone hearing this kind of embarrassing sound before.

"I'm hungry." He bluntly stated and waited for the response. Maul just looked at him, then nodded.

"This way Ezra." Maul said, leading the way toward the passage Ezra had come in. "By the way, you're free to have Lady Tano's quarter, if you have your use."

"And what kind of 'use' do you mean?" Ezra asked, deciding that he had to play Maul's game if he wanted to know more about Maul's true intention. On the corner of his eyes, Ezra saw Maul grinned.

And he had a bad feeling about it.


End file.
